\\ Sourabh Raaj Jain - Veerabhadra Mahadev // AT #1

Shiva is the most difficult of the Holy Trinity' to describe. His character is the most complex amongst the three aspects of the Unmanifest Supreme Lord'. He is at once merciful and dreadful most benevolent and most ruthless when angry. He is attired in just a tiger skin with snakes round his neck and arms a necklace of human skulls and another of his favourite bead Rudraksha His body is covered with ash.

His hair is in matted strands and hangs down to his chest but also has it piled up on top of his head in a jatta' on which rests the moon (on the left side). The sacred river Ganga falls on his head from the heavens and then flows down to the earth. He visits the cremation grounds and has ghosts and spirits as his entourage.

He dances the Tandav when angry a dance that can destroy the entire world and even the Universe. His third eye in the middle of the eyebrows can burn anything and anyone when opened in anger. This angry aspect is named rudra' synonymous with the name of the child that came out of the forehead of Brahma when he was very annoyed with the four rishis Sanskra, Sanayatak, Sankada and Sanat Kumar for not appearing to populate the world.

The Aryan mind did create the destroyer in the form of Shiva, but they could not take away the Godliness from him, otherwise he would be wholly evil which no aspect of the Almighty can be as the paramount nature of God is merciful and loving and yet in the nature of things what has been created must have an end and that is also the doing of the Almighty. That aspect due to the fright of death and destruction was given the garb of an austere, frightening and ill-kept God.

Yet in the true Hindu belief, creation and destruction are a continuous cycle, and death is not the end as it opens the door to another life which could and should be for the betterment of the Being' depending on his or her karma' so the work of Shiva as destroyer is a natural course of events in the existence of every created being or thing. And death is as natural as birth and creation. Therefore, the nature of Godliness in Shiva does not differ from that of Brahma or Vishnu.

The first primeval sound, the holy and eternal OM or AUM' represents Shiva as the Omnipresent' with all the qualities of the Supreme' intact, thus accepting the three aspects to be really One' in its deepest meaning and is known as Onkar' or as Omkar', the one who created AUM or the first sound of the Universe.

Mahadev, as Shiva is also called, is the master and protector of the animal world also and is known as Pashupati. In this garb He controls and tames the wild animals. This is represented by Shiva wearing a tiger skin and having live snakes round his neck. He even appears in more of an animal form in some temples on the Himalayas where he is thus portrayed beside the ling'.

Another form of his dance is in peace and harmony; it is very beautiful. He dances this with his second wife Uma or Parvati (who is a reincarnation of Sati). Together they dance as one and the dance is known as lasya' where Shiva and Parvati become one in a form of half male and half female known as Aradha Nareeshivas.

The concept of the male and female being complementary to each other and only then being complete (an equality of the sexes is accepted by the Hindus) Shiva as the male is the right side and Parvati as the female is the left side, they then complete the full human body.

This depiction of Shiva is known as Sada Shiv' or the auspicious God in the form which has always been and shall always be the giver of well-being, happiness and health. He is affectionately also called Shambhu'. In this mood He is easily pleased with little effort and fulfils wishes instantly and He is called Ashutosh', being generous to a fault he lands himself into difficulties and causes great anxiety to the other demi-Gods.

Shiva has four hands and he carries the Trishul' (a three- pronged trident) in the left upper hand, a damru (drum) in the right upper hand and a kamandal (a wooden bowl with a handle) in the third, the lower right is held up right in a gesture of a blessing.

His neck is blue as he had drunk up the poison which had come out of the ocean when it was churned at the time of creation. He managed to confine the poison in his neck which turned blue. He sits on a tiger skin and has his consort Parvati very close to him. He lives on top of Mount Kailash in the Himalayas and travels on a white bull called Nandi'.

Shiva with the unkempt uncouth looks, with ash smeared all over his body, with snakes coiled round his neck, arms and Jatta', with the tiger skin round his waist visiting cremation grounds and mixing with spirits and ghosts still is accepted by the mighty and holy river Ganga to fall first on his Jatta', because of the fear of going down straight to Pataal Lok due to the great force of her descent from the heavens.

The benign moon accepted the Jatta' of Shiva as his abode as it came out of the ocean at the time of being churned by the Gods and the asurs. Parvati sits with her body senuously touching his body yet Shiva, is untouched with either the foul or the glorious and is totally at peace within himself.

(the above pic credit goes to Namrata)

Originally posted by: mythili2

Wow AT is open... Wonderful thread ⭐️

Originally posted by: --BlackSheep--

It's a lovely thread

Please include me among the members too.